Major Wildfires in California; Southbound 5 Freeway near L.A. Closed

Major wildfires broke out in California this weekend up and down the state, forcing the closure of the southbound side of Interstate 5, just north of Los Angeles, on Sunday.

A map of current fires traces the spine of the state, from L.A. through the Central Valley and up to Redding in northern California.

Until now, an unusually wet spring has suppressed fires, but recent heat, and high winds over the weekend, have driven blazes, fueled by brush and vegetation that has flourished after the last two rainy winters.

The New York Times reported:

A wildfire that quickly consumed more than 14,000 acres of grasslands and brush in a mountainous area northwest of Los Angeles over the weekend signaled the start of what experts warn could be a dangerous, prolonged fire season in the West.

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The blaze, named the Post fire, started on Saturday afternoon near Interstate 5 about 45 miles outside of Los Angeles, the authorities said. It forced the evacuation of about 1,200 people from the Hungry Valley campground, a popular state recreation area for off-road vehicles. Officials also closed nearby Pyramid Lake, a destination for weekend boaters.

As of Sunday afternoon, the fire was about 2 percent contained and ranked as the state’s largest wildfire so far this year, according to CalFire, California’s firefighting agency.

The Post fire has continued to expand to nearly 15,000 acres, according to Cal Fire.

There was also a wildfire in Sonoma County in Northern California, according to Bay Area public radio station KQED:

A fast-spreading fire has been moving through Sonoma County near the southeast end of Lake Sonoma, with Cal Fire issuing mandatory evacuation orders and trying to keep the fire from burning homes near Bradford Mountain.

The blaze — named Point Fire — began early Sunday afternoon and has since spread to at least 900 acres as of around 8:30 p.m.

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